SANDS OF TIME
by GoldAngel2
Summary: From Future Fury Francoise's thoughts as she agonizes over the disappearence of Joe MAJOR SPOILER


_Author's Note: Here's yet another one-shot that's been rattling in my head since I first saw episode 41, "Future Fury" and that scene where Francoise is in agony on the beach as she pines for Joe. It's my first attempt at writing in the first person so I tried to really get into the depths of her despair as I saw it. (It is a major spoiler for the episode that will be shown Friday night on Cartoon Network) I don't own Cyborg 009 it is owned by TokyoTV, Avex-Mode and Toei Animation and was created by the late Shotaro Ishinomori._

_Vanessa, I am working on a chapter for our collaboration—when it's finished, I'll email it to you._

**SANDS OF TIME**

The waves lapped against the sandy shore, foam turned to silver by moonlight, a night I usually relish as I stand in awe of its beauty. And usually, I am sharing it with Joe as the two of us sit on the sand and watch nature's nocturnal spectacle not even touching or needing to touch, just content to be in each other's presence. But it's usually like that with us, we share so many things, we are almost in perfect synchronization. . . .

But not now.

He's gone. And I'm sure it would make more sense to me if I knew where he had gone to, as he usually tells me if he's planning to take off and even sometimes asks me to come with him. Countless times I've gone with him to stare at the charred ruins of the church he grew up in and have watched his beautiful cinnamon eyes shine with unshed tears as my own fell for him and we grieved. . . together.

I sigh as I stare up into the velvet clime, the vast dark nothingness of night, lit by the lunar orb that rules it and the pinprick of tiny stars, actual suns in countless systems in the great universe. The beach house is dark and silent as the rest of the team had long since retired but for me for since that horrible moment, sleep had been elusive to me, rest a nonentity. For how could I rest as my mind reran that horrible moment when he….when he….

Disappeared.

At times I absolutely despise my cyborg abilities. It is a live contradiction, both a blessing and a curse simultaneously, as it has afforded me some sights that have stayed with me and shall for the rest of my life. I'll never forget the sights and sounds of a dreadful war that the Greek god cyborgs had precipitated, as my super ears heard the last gasps of men dying and my telescopic eyes viewed their lifeblood drained out as they gave their lives for their own noble cause. Joe had comforted me as I agonized of my physical weakness, telling me that flaws and weaknesses made all of us unique and he encouraged me with a gentle hand on my shoulder. A few days later after the battle that ultimately led to the Greek god cyborgs destruction and the shred of pink that was the bandage that I tied on Pan's injured tail drifted into my hands, I sunk to my knees and wept bitterly. Joe knelt beside me and again offered comfort as he wrapped his arm about me and held me close, his warmth and strength cocooning me. He's always there, protecting me, rescuing me and caring for me. So I saw Joe vanish before all of us even got to the beach where he was last in that bubble that sent him into the wrinkle of time.

My heart constricted as a tear slipped down my cheek, and my eyes filled once again for the umpteenth time since we returned from that island where those psychic assassins sent by the madman Gamo had their showdown with us. Since we escaped the clutches of Black Ghost it's as if someone painted targets on our backs as we've become the hunted, prey for those that share the vicious ideals of that vile organization. And this time, two young men and young women with abilities to send psychic waves to render us helpless and engage us in battle were sent to do the job of annihilating us. They used energy created by supercharged psychic abilities to do us in and in such we as always rose to the challenge, especially 009 who as always was driven by his desire to see justice served. Both he and I tried as we did with 0010 to reason with them but to no avail as they ruthlessly attacked us. And as usual, everyone was determined to make these misguided former humans see the truth as we did, that they were nothing but pawns in the hands of another Black Ghost spawned maniac that played God.

I stare blankly ahead as I clutch at the broken medallion that fell out of Joe's tunic as he vaporized that 002 had seen as what was left of him. Jet brought it back and immediately I took it. Since that moment it hasn't left my hands, it is my talisman, my link to Joe as I raptly feel his absence. It feels warm in my hands and although I know it is my own body warmth that heats its surface, I imagine it next to Joe's heart as he stored it in his uniform and again I feel the bleak pain as my heart shatters like crystal.

I feel a pang of guilt as I remember how I snapped at Jet when he came out earlier to offer me assurance and comfort but it was an act in total futility on his part. How can I think of sleep when you're stuck in some era in either the past or future and I may very well never see you again?

"Oh Joe," I whisper brokenly. "Where are you? Will I ever see you again? Will I ever feel your arms around me, and share your secrets and dreams? Will I ever again walk with you on this beach and watch the sun set and the moon rise?" I sob as my mind goes on in my brokenhearted litany. . . .

I still can't believe at times the way my life has been, the incredible things that have happened that separated me from the life I used to have. I am a living anachronism, having been born on the eve of the Second World War and my world consisting of the busy activities of an aspiring dancer as the Paris I knew prepared for the gathering storm. My brother Jean Paul was a flier and worked hard to both keep us clothed and fed and provided for the fulfillment of my dream. But Black Ghost snatched me from that existence and stole my family, my friends, my dreams, and my years as they sought to re-create me into a weapon, a tool in the business of war. Then when the flaws of their ambitions came to surface, they froze me in time as events and lives of those I loved marched on.

Yet now I find myself in the midst of a situation not of my own making or choice but a glad member of a boisterous family of cyborgs like me who had their lives counted as nothing from Black Ghost and worthy to be altered. And we all have grown to care and love each other as family, working as a whole to rid the world of the evil. But I never realized that I could find the man who I could feel was my soul mate, the essential piece in my life that completed me. It never ceases to amaze me that this former orphan, this young man Joe Shimamura who has stolen into the deep reaches of my heart was born generations after me, and yet no man before him has touched me so profoundly. He's a paradox himself, the last created 00 cyborg with unbelievable strength, but at the same time so sensitive and gentle. And his past was so very sad and lonely having been abandoned as a baby, but he reaches out of that buried angst to bless others.

_Joe, Joe, I know you've been gone for just hours but already I miss you dearly. You are so important to the team but most of all to me, you are the sole possessor of my heart. I feel so empty, like a hollowed out shell with you gone, there is a huge void here that cannot be filled. You have to come back to us, to me, my love._

_You care so deeply about things, about our grand mission, you never hesitate to jump right into the fray. When Sphinx had captured me, you didn't hesitate, you came and rescued me. But you've always rescued me since you joined us; my hero and protector. So many times I've seen you attacked and left for dead but like the legendary Phoenix, you rise up out of the ashes and rejoin us, seemingly indestructible._

_Oh Joe, I wish I could be to you what you are to me, your protector and rescuer. But I am woefully inadequate, not a true cyborg as I told you once. I wish with my whole heart that I was, maybe if I was and had an accelerator like you, I could have saved you from this and the roles between us been reversed. I long to be your savior as you have been mine. You are so exceptional, Joe in spite of your unhappy past and the demons that chase you, you feel for those in need and are their champion. When you return, maybe one day I can be your harbor, a place where you can seek the rest and peace that seems to elude you in my welcoming arms._

A breeze came up as a cloud veiled the moon and I shivered as the cool night air slithered down my spine in spite of the protection of my cyborg uniform. But the chill, in reality is from within, a cold draught that comes from a mixture of worry, terror and anguish as I agonize as to where you are. . .

_There's no way I can sleep tonight, not when I see you disappearing again before my eyes, like smoke on the wind. My only hope is that these psychics are just as distressed as one of their own, the girl with the long ash blonde hair has vanished along with you as their scheme backfired._

_Remember what you told me as we stood in the walkway of the Dolphin as I fretted and felt the premonition of the coming disaster. To not give up my faith, that we have to keep believing that something wonderful is waiting for us. Well, I believe what you said Joe, but you have to return so we can experience that wonderful something waiting for us together. _

_We'll find you. We will do all we can and we will find you and bring you back to us. So have faith in all of us and please have faith in me. _

I sighed deeply as I noticed the moon's move toward the horizon and the waves continued their rhythmic caress of the silvered sand and I saw the faint pink glow of the dawn painted on the eastern sky. The day was beginning with new promises as I rose with new resolve and headed back to the beach house.

**END**


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